Stage 01 - No Control, Just Chaos

[goddamnhedgehog]

[ACTION - 505 Ricardo Street

What's going on?

No, seriously. What the hell is this business? One second, you're busy wiping the floor with Mephiles and his dark clones with Rouge and Omega at your side. The next, you're engulfed in a brilliant white light. And now? You're waking up inside of a doghouse. In the middle of some strange neighborhood

Comments

PHONE

[webball]

Uh... this is... not those guys, not responding... if I was them, I would totally respond.

But, I'm not, so...

[goddamnhedgehog]

Why bother responding in the first place, then?

[webball]

WELL, if you want to be a JERK...

You sound like you're new in town. Otherwise, you would have dialed "Rouge" and "Omega" direct.

[goddamnhedgehog]

Assuming, of course, that either of them are here in the first place.

[Which is what he intended to find out.]

And yes. I'm a "new arrival."

[webball]

Thought so. Welcome to Mayfield, our shared little hell on earth. Man. I remember my first time... It was three days ago!

....That... that came out wrong.

[goddamnhedgehog]

[The joke, of course, goes way over Shadow's head.]

You're a new arrival as well, then.

[webball]

Yeah. That, uh... that was the joke.

Well, newbie, the most important thing for you to do I think is Stay Calm. I wasn't really told that, so I kind of... spazzed. Often.

Whose bed did you wake up in? That's a good place to start.

[goddamnhedgehog]

[Sorry, Peter. Shadow and humor don't mix well.]

There wasn't a bed.

[webball]

...What? That's bizarre. Supposedly everyone wakes up in their bed having no idea how they got there. Huh. Maybe you don't HAVE to wake up in bed...

Okay. Well, you probably noticed you were wearing some weird apparel, huh? That didn't belong to you?

[goddamnhedgehog]

...that sounds about right.

[webball]

Okay. That happens. When you land in Mayfield, you lose... everything that made you unique. Your clothes, your physical scars or disabilities, and any special abilities you once had. They make you into just another hapless idiot wandering around 1950's suburbia.

And I have no idea why.

[goddamnhedgehog]

Does anyone?

[He's being sardonic, really, but judging from the letter he received from Squall before picking up the phone, people aren't entirely in the dark.]

[webball]

I don't think so, no... Maybe they know bits and pieces that I'm not aware of, considering they have seniority, but who knows? It's all very weird.

Speaking of weird... avoid the Milkman, he's creepy and probably homicidal. His milk is nefarious.

[goddamnhedgehog]

Noted.

Anything else?

[webball]

Actually, now that I think about it, there are SOME people who know more of what's going on. I found some helpful info from Anna, a prisoner who moonlights as a librarian. She gave me a letter, which seems to have been left behind by one of the first prisoners as an Idiot's Guide to Mayfield Hostage-dom. You might check her out.

Oh! Listen. Avoid the Smith family. They might LOOK like drones, but they are bad news. Especially the little girl. Lucy.

[goddamnhedgehog]

[He's already got a fair amount of this intel at his disposal, thanks to the letter. But any leads this mystery voice on the phone can give him are still pretty helpful. The more he hears about this "Lucy Smith," the better. But this librarian could serve as a useful contact.]

Anna. [He repeats it once more, committing it to memory.] Understood.

And who am I talking to?